Hard to be a God - Review @ GameZone

March 19th, 2008, 00:56

GameZone posts their review of Akella's and Burut's action rpg, Hard to Be A God, giving it a rating of 7.5/10:

…while Hard to be a God has many elements standard to RPGs, it does step away from the stock fare in some nice ways. For example, you can choose different ways to overcome the games various challenges, other than merely use brute force. You can use diplomacy (if the chat options allow for it) to create alliances, and you can even work enemies into favorable locations where friendly units will assist…

At first blush, Hard to be a God is an ordinary RPG, but the game starts to unfold as you delve into the depths of the story. There are twists and turns and you will be wondering just what is going on half the time and the other half will involve thinking you have it only to be unceremoniously returned to the land of the befuddled. It is the story that drives this game.

Hard to be a God could have benefited from a better graphics engine, and more sound work. The ideas are there but the game stumbles in the presentation.

I agree that it isn't something that will sell off of screens and videos, but I also grate with the constant obsession of eye candy. If it is good, it is good. If not, it isn't. I'm playing Betrayal at Krondor now, and that is not suffering for the lack of pixel shaders and bloom …

txa: sure, I agree. Though there's a difference between low-quality graphics and badly designed graphics. HtbaG has a lot of the latter, especially when it comes to overkill on bloom.

Not sure why you'd compare it to TQ, Todd. TQ is made of a kind of bird's eye view and executes its 3D animations superbly. HtbaG has this weird high over-the-shoulder-turned-downwards camera and doesn't execute well.

—  Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius  and a lot of courage  to move in the opposite direction. (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

To be seriously: The German-language package of "Hard to be a God" has the sub-title "An Hack- & Slash game with Role-playing elements" on its back …

—  Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius  and a lot of courage  to move in the opposite direction. (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
To be seriously: The German-language package of "Hard to be a God" has the sub-title "An Hack- & Slash game with Role-playing elements" on its back …

That's how it's being marketed.

I don't think it's a really accurate, but it sure has elements of both hack 'n slash and RPG. Really just another Action RPG. But I think of hack 'n slash as a specific genre, which this game isn't in.

But to me, it also sounds as if "hack & slash" was the major point, and "RPG elements" were the minor point … like a meal to which flavour or spices are added.

That's the impression I got anyway.

—  Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius  and a lot of courage  to move in the opposite direction. (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)